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During this period, Huntingdonshire county elections were dominated by the owners of three great estates, Leighton Bromswold, Hinchingbrooke and Kimbolton. In 1559 Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Leighton Bromswold was elected without opposition since Kimbolton was in the hands of a minor and Hinchingbrooke was owned by the Cromwellalias Williams family, recent additions to the county. Tyrwhitt had already represented the shire in 1554. Simon Throckmorton of Brampton took the junior seat. He was not prominent among Huntingdonshire gentry and probably owed his return for the shire to his fellow MP, Tyrwhitt. In 1563 Henry Cromwell alias Williams confirmed his family’s acceptance into the leading county ranks by being elected senior knight of the shire. His fellow MP was Richard Dorrington of Spaldwick, who also sat in 1571 and 1572. However, Cromwell’s new status did not remain unchallenged for long. By 1571, Leighton Bromswold had passed to Sir Henry Darcy, Tyrwhitt’s son-in-law, and a rivalry grew up between the Cromwells and Darcy for supremacy in the county. In the Parliament of 1572 both sides were represented: Francis Cromwell alias Williams was the younger brother of Henry, and Richard Dorrington was by now one of Darcy’s followers. When Dorrington died in 1573 he was replaced by Darcy for the remaining two sessions of the Parliament. In 1584, however, Darcy was unable to stand, being sheriff. He supported instead the candidature of John Dorrington, Richard’s son, for the junior seat, but this was contested by Francis Cromwell. The senior seat, which was taken by Robert Bevill of Chesterton, does not appear to have been contested. With the sheriff leader of the opposing side, Cromwell had little chance of being elected. In fact, according to a Star Chamber case brought by Cromwell after the election, Darcy postponed the election beyond the legal date and accepted votes from men without the 40s. freehold qualification in order to secure Dorrington’s return:

Election took place at a full county at Huntingdon Castle on 21 Nov. and there was some doubt as to the result ... [12 men] giving and yielding their voices for John Dorrington esquire ... some suspicion [was] conceived of their freehold; the sheriff was requested to examine them on the evangelist. They falsely swore that they severally could dispend 40 s. annually freehold land. It was manifestly suspect that they did so by the instigation, comfort, procurement and abettment of some wicked person.3

Despite an appeal to the House of Commons by Cromwell, the election result stood.

By the time of the next election in 1586, the balance of power had changed in the county. Edward Wingfield of Kimbolton was now 24 and although he had not yet come into his lands, as heir to Kimbolton he was an obvious choice for knight of the shire. His father, who was still alive, had lost his wits after the death of his first wife, and the estate of Kimbolton had been taken away from him and placed in the hands of trustees. Edward Wingfield did not in fact gain control of Kimbolton until his father’s death in 1592, by which time he had already represented the shire twice. He sat a third time in 1593. The junior knight of the shire from 1586 until the end of the reign represented the Cromwell interest in the county. George Walton of Great Staughton (1586) was a close friend of the Cromwell family and they no doubt supported his return. Oliver Cromwell (1589, 1593, 1597, 1601) was the eldest son of Henry Cromwell and heir to Hinchingbrooke; he did not in fact succeed to the estate until 1604. In the last two Parliaments of the reign the senior seat was taken by Sir Gervase Clifton, who had inherited Leighton Bromswold from his father-in-law, Sir Henry Darcy.